Monthly Archives: September 2022

Your Shoppers’ Data can Create Memorable Experiences Every Time

Posted on by
Reply

While traditional shopping becomes more obsolete and premium, in the wake of rapid digital transformation, the future of omnichannel retail is data-driven and personalized. Customers expect nothing short of the most striking and meaningful moments of truth that enable them to engage better with brands across multi-channel touchpoints. Advanced customer analytics enabled by superior marketing intelligence platforms in combination with tech stacks that are backed by a singular source of truth are in high demand. Let’s not forget that loyalty programs can further customize communication as per unique customer needs and preferences.

 

For maximum long-term retention through timely gratification, they need to be designed and factored into the overall digital marketing ecosystem carefully. Revolutionizing customer experience in the here-and-now, the following key data-driven trends are being adopted and redefined by leading brands powering efficient customer profiling, targeting, and segmenting practices.

 

1. Personalization at Scale

Global superstores and e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart are frontrunners when it comes to shaping better personalization practices. Amazon, in particular, has been investing heavily in its customer analytics to ensure higher levels of both sophistication and transparency. The company expanded its personalization program to ensure that customers’ products viewed can be bundled with products added to the cart so that they can make the best choices right before the purchase is made. Display items that are viewed are further recommended through additional products in the follow-up emails that confirm the transaction.

 

In addition to raising the bar with better personalization at scale, Amazon is also innovating heavily to offer relevant recommendations to their customers. With more nuanced and granular level offerings like the personal shopping service, for instance, the Prime service was extended to include this value-added benefit. Customers now take multiple surveys to complete their styles and fit preferences and then get customized recommendations from a specially hired team of stylists. These are curated from across half a million brand offerings available through efficient inventory mapping in combination with customer data analytics. Smaller businesses that came online during the pandemic are also moving in this direction drawing inspiration from larger players. Personalization at scale has many benefits from a data analytics standpoint. From a business growth and ROI perspective, they enhance sales insights to optimize marketing efforts around driving the conversion rate and, overall, inform better decision-making in the future as well.

Overall, some of the larger factors responsible for personalization success include:

 

Data Foundation: This includes developing a solid audience analytics framework to have a multidimensional view of the customer. It would also include segmenting customers and targeting them effectively based on customized recommendations.

 

Decisioning: As a crucial step in this regard, decisioning includes creating a library of campaigns and content that can better inform future strategies. Developing a multichannel decision engine can, moreover, avoid conflicting messages and drive maximum value per touchpoint.

 

Design & Distribution: Banking on cross-functional teams that can test and learn together, design and collateral distribution is the final and most crucial step in terms of optimizing each personalization campaign.

 

2. Removing Data Silos for Integration & Omnichannel Communication

Whether Banking, Retail, or Finance, all sectors are now looking at avoiding a compartmentalized approach to data management in the pursuit of integration. Many organizations have been struggling with this process issue for a while now. Streamlining all marketing activities surrounding the data collection, ingestion and personalization imply consolidation towards a single source of truth. Moreover, revenue insights, customer experience strategy, and predictive analysis also need to be integrated into the final process that defines better managerial decision-making. Considering new advancements in digital transformation, leading brands have already taken the necessary steps to avoid any kind of data silos too, then, deliver omnichannel value to customers. This step can offer a large strategic advantage to companies ready to innovate with the right talent on board. Let’s look at Sephora for instance.

The beauty-products retail giant has multiple digital and physical channels that came together to avoid silos in favor of ‘phygital’ experiences. The company innovated to gather and analyze customer preferences from across their varied services to figure out unique new makeovers and fashion consultation-based experiences. Delivering genuine omnichannel value also meant using ‘in-store’ methods to attract customers through an integrated digital app interface that was installed live. Thus, both on ecommerce product windows as well as in the store itself, customers can virtually try out every product before they buy. With the covid protocols in demand, not actually trying makeup in favor of digital tryouts is a huge uptick for brand trust and reliability as well.

 

Moreover, all customer communications are streamlined effectively to earn and burn loyalty points. The company ensures that marketing collaterals across devices can provide both the customers and the sales team with adequate resources to make the best optimization decisions. In this way, customers become part of Sephora’s data management ecosystem with profiling done based on both online browsing and purchasing patterns as well as in-store purchases. Sales associates then take the call on incentivizing products through a multi-tiered loyalty program that is much loved across key geographies. The results of synchronizing all of Sephora’s data management efforts towards the end goal of personalization have been nothing short of phenomenal. The loyalty program now has around 25 million members. In 2018, members accounted for 80 percent of Sephora’s total transactions. And for the third year in a row, with a score of 79 out of a possible 100, Sephora has claimed the top slot in Sailthru’s Retail Personalization Index.

 

3. Investing in Tools for Superior Data Management

The most important step in using customer data to drive unique experiences is deploying the right tech stack flexibly with the right platform. Tools and technology enablement can be driven effectively by bringing the right digital transformation partner on board. There are a whole set of criteria that can help companies determine their choice of partner – from effective personalization and campaign management to loyalty program scalability and deployment. There are several players competing for these services today with prominent names including Oracle, Adobe, Salesforce, and Acquia. Each offers a unique set of tools to optimize customer analytics to deliver higher sales and ROI.

 

In a world dominated by customer data and personalization trends, loyalty is a crucial pivot towards delivering maximum satisfaction. Whether for optimum instant rewards or long-term value drivers, get in touch with our experts at Capillary Technologies to enable the best-in-class loyalty programs suited to e-commerce transitions both new and old. Ultimately, customer data is only the foundation, but the decision-making will determine the success of organizations bold enough to transform their processes in favor of omnichannel customer experiences redefining the here and now.

Best Practices from Top Loyalty Programs In India

Posted on by
Reply

Intense competition, reduction in profit margins, and the wave of digitization have posed challenges for the brands to win loyal customers. The struggle of maintaining this streak for any brand is more critical than getting first-time shoppers. Price fluctuations always make a difference in customers’ shopping patterns, but loyal customers make their way to the brands regardless of price differences. More than profits, loyal customers contribute to the branding. That’s why, maintaining customer relationships are crucial for brands.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic hit & economic slowdown had brands think about ways to sustain long-term customer relationships. With the evolved customer preferences now, they more likely want to be valued rather than just rewarded. For this reason, businesses are turning more aggressive in their approach to relationship management strategies driven by range of loyalty programs. In this blog, you will learn about the need for Indian businesses to redesign their loyalty programs & the best practices of some of the known brands in India.

 

Why do Indian businesses need to revive their loyalty programs?

When Indian businesses constantly struggle with their competitors, now is the time to shift from traditional loyalty strategies to digitized ones. Customer preferences have evolved as they rely on emotions for their decisions. With advanced technology solutions, they need to build a better connection with customers by empathizing with them, educating them, and standing for core business values.

 

Indian customers are less likely brand fans & more an experimental lot in terms of shopping. When you want to strengthen your customer relationships in India, you need to widen the scope of your loyalty programs. An ecosystem loyalty approach can give you more reach and help you enhance your overall customer experience. There’s no single success mantra for gaining loyal customers for all the brands. Hence, here we will be sharing the best practices adapted by successful loyalty programs in India.

 

Best Practices of Popular Indian Loyalty Programs

1. Subscription Loyalty Program

Often known as paid, premium, or subscription loyalty programs, this reward system involves a one-time/recurring payment from customers to acclaim member benefits. And the two loyalty programs that stand out here are:

 

  • Amazon Prime – Amazon already has a huge fanbase of its shoppers & users of Amazon Web Services (AWS). It’s been just 5 years to Amazon Prime’s launch in India, then too it’s second market leader with its 22.3 million subscribers in 2022.
  • By subscribing to Amazon Prime monthly, quarterly or annually, users can unlock the benefits of expedited deliveries, unlock advanced eligibility to discount deals 24-48 hours prior, can do unlimited video streaming, check award-winning Amazon originals, stream TV shows, enjoy music, & download Kindle ebooks for free.
  • The joy of receiving orders same day, or just within 24 hours is one of the crucial prime benefits that customers cherish.
  • After its video streaming & free music services, we believe there is hardly anyone untouched from Amazon Prime membership, especially post-pandemic.
  • Swiggy One – Swiggy’s one membership loyalty program – Swiggy One unlocks plenty of benefits like unlimited free deliveries, discounts at restaurants, access to Swiggy Genie & meat shops, and Swiggy Instamart across 500 locations.
  • Profile of Swiggy Super membership users was automatically upgraded to Swiggy One & other members of Swiggy’s previous loyalty programs can opt for upgrade distinctly.
  • Swiggy One is definitely a best bet for younger population living in rental accommodation or often order groceries & food online. Those who are in dilemma can subscribe with quarterly plan & upgrade to annual membership later.

 

2. Experiential Loyalty Program

Make your customers feel delighted offering them memorable experiences. Make them crave for such once-in-a-lifetime movements with experiential loyalty rewards. Hospitality & wellness businesses can count on such loyalty program strategies.

 

  • Club Vistara: It is India’s fastest rewarding Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) which follows the tier model. The more you fly, the more you unlock elite tier benefits & claim experiential rewards.
    • Club Vistara has 4 tiers – Base, Silver, Gold, Platinum based on your score of CV points. Club Vistara members earn Tier Points and CV Points per INR 100 as per their tier status on the base fare of Vistara flights.
    • Flyers can earn CV points traveling with Vistara’s airline partners & shopping from their non-airline partners. They can get access to Vistara’s lounge before boarding on flights, opt for free/discounted car rentals.
    • With elite tiers, flyers can claim for flight privileges, fee waivers, airport privileges, partner privileges, & get complimentary vouchers. They can do point transfers within family or to their referrals.
    • Flyers can book for their accommodations, visit to some exotic places, plan their journeys, and get the best dine-in experiences with Vistara’s partners.

 

Likewise, your brand can enrich customer experiences by creating lifetime memories with them.

 

3. Value-based Loyalty Program

Integrate human values to your brand and build a deeper connect with your customers. Your loyalty program can support to a global or local cause & that exhibits your brand’s initiatives for social responsibility. Such loyalty programs intensifies your company’s values, ethics & associate emotional inclination of customers to your brand.

 

  • Shiksha: The success of a CSR initiative by P&G ensures that earning loyal customers is not mere points earning. It focuses on the mission of spreading education in India with meagre yet accumulated donation of its customers.
    • This global philanthropic program was started with the motto of Live, Learn, and Thrive. Since its inception, it has accumulated for the noble cause of making education accessible with the donation of INR 22 crores.
    • Shiksha has an e-store on Amazon, through which customers can shop P&G products and support such global & social causes.
    • Such programs gives you & your customers ownership of helping in the social causes. Also, it clarifies you don’t need huge contributions to make a difference.

 

4. Coalition Loyalty Program

Due to the popularity of ecosystem loyalty programs, brands are partnering with other businesses to extend reward options for customers. It will help you build new relationships & prosper further your customer base.

 

  • PAYBACK – It is a multi-brand loyalty program that lets customers earn points shopping for daily activities like shopping, payments, grocery, fuel, & more.
  • Whether shopping online or in-store, customers can earn PAYBACK points for their spending. Like 4 points for every 100Rs spent on shopping from online stores & 2 points for every 200 Rs spent while shopping from Future Group formats like Brand Factory, Central, etc.
  • Customers can review products or publications & earn PAYBACK rewards for non-transaction behaviors as well.
  • Multi-brand earnings fasten the chances of point accumulation. Further, shoppers can redeem these points to claim discounts or avail offers when shopping next time across any of the brands.

 

5. Ecosystem Loyalty Program

With increasing disposable income & shift in lifestyle preferences, individuals are looking for premium experiences. To succeed, brands are partnering with other brands regardless of their domains to offer dynamic & personalized experiences to customers.

 

  • Tata Neu – A superapp from the Tata group has several trusted brands (Tata CLIQ, Westside, Croma, Bigbasket, AirAsia India, Tata 1mg, IHCL, Qmin etc.) of Tata group integrated into the single app. It offers exclusive privileges & benefits to its users across categories.
    • From lifestyle to grocery order & travel to luxurious stays, enjoy cross-category shopping experiences. Earn 1 NeuCoin every spends worth ₹1 on Tata Neu App & use it to claim other rewards.
    • Tata Neu allows lets you to manage your financials like personal loans & credit lines. You can multiply your wealth with Tata Capital, opt for custom insurance plans, pay bills, & link your bank accounts for easy payment using Tata Pay UPI.
    • For unique privileges on Tata brands, Tata Neu is soon launching a subscriber program by which members can get a minimum of 5% additional NeuCoins on every purchase over the app.
  • Nature’s Basket SBI Card – Extending its foray of services, SBI in March 2022 partnered with Nature’s Basket – a premium grocery store brand.
    • Customers can use their new SBI card to earn upto 20 reward points on every Rs 200 spent at Nature’s basket stores, and 10 points for every Rs 100 spent on dining, movies, & international travel.
    • Users can unlock complimentary benefits with BookMyShow movie tickets, welcome gift vouchers, access to higher tiers of Nature’s Basket loyalty program, get Taj gift vouchers, etc.
    • Additionally, they can opt for online doctor consultations, gift deliveries, and flower deliveries at discounted rates.
    • With the exclusive benefits, the SBI card is likely to get more loyal customers in the longer run.

 

Several banks, airlines & even hoteliers are relying on ecosystem loyalty programs for premium customer experiences.

 

Your go-to Mantra to shape your loyalty program for the Indian market

There is only one rule that can make your customer loyalty program a success – knowing your customers and timely evaluating customer journeys.

 

Customer loyalty programs have been ruling in India since 1995. However, with changing customer demographics loyalty programs are also evolving. Analyze the success of your loyalty programs & upgrade them as per changing customer preferences. If you want to dive deeper,  connect with our experts today and know how you can deploy one for your business.

Choosing The Right CRM: An Indonesian Marketer’s Perspective

Posted on by
Reply

The core purpose of CRM is to improve a brand’s business relationship with its customers.

 

CRM achieves this by analyzing a brand’s existing customer interactions throughout the purchase journey. These customer interactions are captured in one place to evaluate data and offer insights. In a market cluttered with hundreds of CRM software options, it is indeed a mammoth task to select the one that is ideal for the business. In fact, CRM is no longer considered just a software, it’s more a strategy that enables businesses manage their leads effectively and keep a track on their overall sales performance.

 

Today, we take a look at how marketers in Indonesia come about choosing CRM software for their businesses. Southeast Asia’s largest market by GDP, Indonesia, has embarked on its digital transformation journey. Post pandemic, Indonesia’s digital revolution is accelerating at an incredible rate. In one of CNBC’s recent interviews with Lippo Group Director, John Riady, the entrepreneur predicts, “Indonesia stands as the most exciting digital and technology market in Asia and arguably the world.” The $40 billion e-commerce Indonesia market has been pushed by the work-from-home culture and businesses’ cautious shift to sell online. Add to this, the introduction of digital payments and advanced technology tools like AR, VR, AI, ML, chatbots, etc. has further enhanced the consumer interaction journeys. Clearly, the need for a robust CRM is evident in this region.

 

We chatted with one of our ace Indonesian CRM experts to understand the mindset of marketers in the region. Here is a detailed download of our conversation.

 

Top 3 things that matter the most to Indonesian marketers when choosing CRM

 

 

  • Seamless integration: Indonesian marketers look for a CRM that requires least integration effort with their current database. Lot of them fear the strenuous integration process it may require.
  • Cost-effective: One cannot deny that pricing is one of the most important considerations for marketers when selecting a CRM system. Given that many new and upcoming businesses have established in Indonesia recently, a cost-effective CRM solution is crucial to them.
  • Local presence & understanding: A country as populous as Indonesia has a more diverse demographic structure and base. Upcoming businesses are still learning the ins and outs of CRM technology. As a result, they are more likely to give preference to CRM system companies that are situated in Indonesia. This gives them the flexibility to contact customer service at Indonesia local time, if there are any unanticipated technological issues.

 

While the aforementioned factors are non-negotiable for them, marketers must also consider other crucial factors that are often unconsciously missed out when selecting CRM technology for their business.

 

Presenting 5 CRM capabilities that Indonesian marketers just can’t ignore

 

1. Capturing non-transactional data to record NPS

 

 

One of the stumbling blocks in the Indonesian market is generating complete awareness about the potential of CRM technology. Brands must be aware of promoters and detractors’ activities. More than capturing transactional data, CRM captures non-transaction data that can be used to engage with customers. For instance, Net Promoter Score (NPS) data defines which customers are promoters and detractors based on their feedback to brands’ products and services. Hence, with this information, brands can engage with customers in a different way. The fact that digital transformation is fast catching up in Indonesia, brands need to understand that CRM offers actionable insights to improve overall business performance by evaluating customer behavior at different digital touch points.

 

Bata in Indonesia had chunks of unutilized data when they decided to partner with Capillary to capture customer’s feedback data through NPS. By enabling QR code scanning at the counter, customers submitted feedback which helped brand to map their customers better.

 

2. Enabling 1:1 personalization through customer segmentation

 

 

We all know that by tracking the transaction history of customers, CRM can trigger effective promotion campaigns. But what marks the differentiating factor here is tracking the accurate and right set of data as per brand goals. Take for instance, Dominos in Indonesia who wanted to increase their online order value through the brand’s own online channel besides other food ordering aggregators in the region. By enabling Capillary’s CRM , the data captured customers’ pizza preferences like crust, toppings, etc. the brand rolled out personalized promotional offers for specific customer groups thereby increasing their overall purchase propensity. This also encouraged customers to order through brand’s own online channel than other available digital channels. Over a period of time, this promotional activity built a higher engagement rate between the brand and the customer.

 

3. The indispensable omnichannel integration

 

The core of CRM is how it molds itself in the omnichannel retail world. Marketers must not look at CRM software from a one-dimensional view. Given the fact that customer behavior is always changing in today’s environment, CRM software must incorporate empathy into client interactions across several channels within a single customer journey. Although the quick integration procedure is a fair issue expressed by Indonesian marketers, omnichannel messaging integration in the CRM is now the need of the hour.

 

Capillary’s expertise in integrating with multiple systems like POS, ecommerce platforms, central database and social channels (like FB, IG, LINE, WhatsApp, WeChat)demonstrates how it can bring an omnichannel experience in achieving a brand’s goals.

 

4. A scalable CRM can support rapid growth

 

 

Many new enterprises are springing up in Indonesia, and some of them are overlooking the importance of scalability when selecting a CRM. Purchasing CRM software should not be viewed as an additional expenditure. Rather, it is more an investment towards business growth. As the company grows, its needs expand; and only a scalable CRM platform will be able to handle the load.

 

5. Effective management of first-party data

 

In order to derive the most value from their consumer data, marketers must assess its usability and scalability. Although the contact management feature in CRM enables data collection, but just having data stacks in a CRM software will never do justice to a brand. Only by democratizing data, can actionable insights be developed, allowing retail tech businesses to contribute real-time value to their customers’ lives.

 

An agile and robust CRM is the strongest lever to grow and align a brand’s marketing, sales and customer service objectives. The next time you purchase CRM software for your business, ensure that you understand and align your company objectives with the right capabilities offered by CRM. To understand the comprehensive benefits offered by CRM, book a demo with our experts today.